A new model of the northern Hayward Fault in California’s San Francisco Bay Area suggests that a major earthquake along that portion of the fault may be less likely than previously suspected, according to a report in the 18 August issue of the journal Science. The Hayward fault is one of the major branches of […]

Her name is Xena, and she joins that other famous female, Dolly, in the ranks of the barnyard cloned. Xena’s debut is reported in the 18 August issue of the international journal, Science. Xena’s name underscores one hope for the future of pig cloning-the use of these animals in xenotransplantation, where pigs would be donors […]

Plant pathologists from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have found that hypericin (pronounced hi-PARIS-in), an active ingredient in St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) — a popular herbal remedy for depression– might be increased when the plant is attacked by predators such as insects. “It appears to increase its own chemical arsenal […]

The discovery of a cellular “fat switch” — described in the 11 August issue of the international journal, Science — offers fundamental new information on obesity, a disease affecting nearly one-fourth of all adults in the United States alone. A protein called Wnt-10b apparently helps prevent flab by quieting two molecules known to crank out […]

Arctic temperatures in the late 20th century, which were the warmest in four centuries, have been accompanied by a variety of other environmental changes, according to a review paper published in mid-July by a group of the world’s leading Arctic researchers. The changes appear to be at least partly a result of human activity, said […]

Some hear choruses singing folk songs, others hear Mozart or even the Glenn Miller Orchestra — but there is no music; they are hallucinating. New research in the August 8 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, confirms the region of the brain and condition that causes this rare and […]

Scientists analyzing some of the oldest-known rocks on Earth have discovered for the first time a way to recover from the geological record details about the evolution of oxygen and ozone in the planet’s early atmosphere – two key ingredients that permitted and recorded the expansion of terrestrial life. In the August 4 issue of […]

Obesity is more prevalent among African Americans than among Caucasians. In a retrospective study of 447 African American subjects published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, compared data collected at birth with measurements of adiposity taken in early adulthood. Among 9 potential independent birth variables, 3 were strongly associated with adult obesity: first-born status, […]

The human brain is wired with natural checks and balances that control negative emotions, but breakdowns in this regulatory system appear to dramatically heighten risk of impulsive violent behavior, according to findings of a University of Wisconsin-Madison study. As part of a special report on violence in the July 28 issue of the journal Science, […]

Coffee drinkers seem to be at increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, suggests research in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. The association between coffee drinking and the presence of a hallmark indicator for the development of rheumatoid arthritis-rheumatoid factor-was studied in a cross sectional survey of almost 7000 people, and in almost 19000 people, […]